. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. three days before inauguration day and the "news nation" following president obama's approval rating, higher than most of his first year. our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows the approval rating at 52% but despite the number our first read team notes, quote, the president faces an american public that remains in a funk as the president spends a low-key day at the white house, the new official portrait is unveiled. the president is smiling more but there is a lot more gray and inauguration weekend in washington kicks off tonight

with pre-inaugural balls. many of those for charity and then tomorrow a national day of service. there will be a service summit on the national mall followed by a children's concert hosted by the first lady and dr. jill biden. sunday, president obama will take part in a private swearing-in at the white house. an the date mandated by the constitution. monday, he'll take the oath of office at the capitol followed his inaugural address and then the parade and a night of balls. joining me now, political panel, chicago sun times washington bureau chief, lynn sweet and columnist zachary carabel and strategist and contributor keith boykin. bottom line is why you count today is you're on the "news nation." lynn, let's start with you with breaking news. republicans wrapped up the three-day retreat and house republicans indicated they're ready to extend or temporary

three-month debt limit increase to give the senate and house time to pass a budget. the white house responded to the news telling nbc that it's a terrible way to run the country, basically kicking situation down the can and reiterated the president's creation of self imposed deadlines but the bottom line some analysts see this as a caving in by house republicans to give this extension. >> well, it's yes and yes. caving in, kicking the can down the road. but this also means that the next debate on the debt limit will also come at a time where some of these automatic spending cuts, the ones that we kick the can if you will, new year's eve, goes down the road, the pluses, it gives obama a little breathing room, especially as he tries to see what congress wants to do with the package of measures to curb gun violence. maybe this little breathing room can let him launch some work on passing immigration reform. >> let me play what house republican whip kevin mccarthy

said a short time ago regarding this latest action. >> the senate has never passed a budget. it is the rule and the law that by april 15th you have to so we're saying is, we will extend the debt limit until the time line where you have a budget. a road map. so you stop digging yourself in the hole that we get out of this problem. >> keith, carry reid issued a statement saying it's reassuring to see republicans beginning to back off the threat to hold our economy hostage. if the house can pass a clean debt ceiling increase and meeting the existing obligations we will be happy to consider it. here we are as i said three days before inauguration and it looks like another fight that the republicans are not prepared to it seems to follow through on despite the threats. >> zachary and i were having a conversation in the green room and i said i don't understand the meaning of a second inauguration for the president. i get it now. the reason we need another inauguration is apparently one party doesn't understand we had

an election in november and they lost. which means that you move on and you let the president be the president of the united states. these guys still want to fight the old battles of 2012. >> but they're giving this extension now. >> a three-month extension. the white house should tell them to go shove it. you can't run a government three months at a time. you have to have a long-term planning. bad for the markets. bad for the country. bad for the economy. let's make clear, definitive decisions. you lost. let's come together and compromise. pass the debt ceiling and talk about spending cuts if that's what you want to talk about. >> i want to read what "the washington post" conservative columnist had to say about the republican strategy. here's what he said. he wrote, obama's post-election arrogance and intransigence can put you in a fighting mood. i sympathize. this is what he's telling the republicans but i'm tending toward the realist view. don't force the issue when you don't have the power s. that what we're seeing with the debt kreeling in they don't have the

power and maybe taking this advice from the conservative columnist? >> it's rare i agree with charles krauthammer but don't fight battles you can't win and don't go to the brink to be perceived as pulling back and therefore losing. this is not a fight they can win. it's certainly one they can lose and i think, though, just doing this three months, we are not done with this. if you're a crisis junkie, we are in the position of not only did the fiscal cliff not end this, we'll talk about this, and talking about it and talking about it and whether there's a coherent set of here's what we do with spending and revenue, in march, $1.2 trillion, march 10th. i'm sure we get four days before that and somehow that sequester put in to june because we can't decide by march whatever. >> lynn, let's bring you back in to read what dylan matthews with "the washington post" has

regarding new study showing that the 112th congress, even though they just wrapped up, looking back at the impact, the most polarizing ever. the democratic caucus got more liberal this past congress, a lot of blue dogs and conservative southern dems lost the seats in the 2010 elections. around 1976, the republican caucus shifted and grew rapidly more conservative and has continued to do so ever since. so we're looking, again, the second inauguration of president obama. high approval numbers, about the same that george w. bush had in the second term and i believe five points lower than what bill clinton experienced but a lot of members of congress back there today and it is groundhog day, whatever you want to call it all over again. >> yes. >> because if the 112th was the most polarizing, what do we expect out of the 113th? >> we expect it more. so one of obama's goals, we'll see if he repeats it in the inaugural address, to change the tone of washington. he couldn't do it in term one.

we go in to the new congress now with exactly -- with the dynamic that you have just described tamron. >> yeah. >> the dynamic -- i apologize for interrupting, but the reaction to this president. this week we saw a senator refer to him as king obama and allegations of tyranny and impeachment and beyond ideological differences. it taps in to what i think scares some people who are in the middle who may be moderate republicans or maybe not far to the left of the most progressive. somewhere in the middle and they become afraid and worried when they hear this kind of language coming from elected leader who is are supposed to look at immigration reform, gun laws and, of course, this economy. >> and well, here's the one heartening thing on that with that i would say garbage talk, don't like the suits, policy, what you have talked about is what i call it, garbage talk. america did reject that.

you had a big majority that he won by in a lot of areas so i think in terms of his governing, if you're one of the lawmakers that is peddling that garbage, hey, the public heard it and they rejected it. find something else. you know? there's always going to be people, tamron, you know it, who just want to be the permanent opposition but if that's the tack they take, it hurts them more than the president. far more. >> a very candid interview today in politico with senior adviser valerie jarrett and told politico, we are now in a position where the president wants to really focus on a growth agenda which will create jobs, requires us to invest in way that is are going to be helpful for businesses to expand and hire people. from her words to what you know regarding this white house and its priority list, we know it's been guns and the pledge for immigration but what about the pledge for jobs? >> i think that has to be the

top priority. looking at the 2012 campaign, it was all about jobs. both mitt romney and barack obama said that was the top priority but since november 6th, all we have talked about is debt reduction. that wasn't an issue. the words fiscal cliff were never uttered at any point in any one of the three presidential debates and that became the entire conversation for six weeks after the election and now more debt reduction. this is why we have elections to settle these issues. the issue to focus on is jobs. the president had a jobs plan on the table for two years now, the american jobs act. not going to get it passed in full but look at some of the elements of that. let's start to focus on that issue because that's the issue the american people care about. >> i want to play an excerpt of the president's first inauguration. let's play a little bit of what he said. >> today, i say to you that the challenges we face are real. they are serious and they are many. they will not be met easily or in a short span of time. but know this, america. they will be met.

>> zachary, the president said that they will be met. the same challenges and many cases, some improvements we have seen but they're still here. in our new poll, they were asking people, what would you tell president obama as he heads in to this second term? 11% said create jobs. 9% fix the economy. 9% stop spending. 9% compromise. 8% said you're doing a great job. when asked for the republicans what to do, 37% said, compromise. >> yeah. clearly there is a consensus if one exists for some moderate reduction of spending and real activity when it comes to stimulating and increasing the opportunities for the economy going forward. some of that really was done in 2009 within that omnibus business in february of 2009 and several hundred millions of investment in alternate energy and seriously bad rap. it's very difficult right now to gather that political will for whether it's an infrastructure

bank, investing in america, maybe $2 trillion of defrayed maintenance on the national infrastructure. there's major needs here not met for the future cutting back spending because we spend later if we don't spend now on things like that. hopefully there will be an attempt to focus on that. you are getting that from the white house. this is a really difficult congress to navigate through. you can't pass an operating budget, let alone to invest -- >> difficult house of representatives. >> that's right. >> to your point of getting things passed, lynn talked about what the public and the message of the public, we have had poll after poll siding with the president from a tax increase on those making over $250,000 to kind of stricter gun legislation. the polls show that most people are siding with him. but yet, to your point, you still see pure rejection from republicans in the house who know their constituents will still vote with them and they can hold up the process.

>> national consensus for compromise and in the -- >> breaking it down to nuggets, absolutely. >> you had a poll on nbc news and the republican brand so tarnished, like the worst in history or worst it's ever been recorded. 49% have an unfavorable view of the republican party and that hasn't changed them or change the behavior. what do you do when people aren't paying attention? >> sadly, you add dot-dot-dot. i don't know what the solution would be for that. lynn, thank you. great pleasure. keith, zachary, see you at the inauguration. heading out to the big show on sunday. we are also following another developing story. former new orleans mayor ray nagin, this is breaking news, indicted on 21 counts of corruption. the charges included wire fraud, bribery and money laundering. they stem from a city hall corruption investigation that resulted in guilty pleas of two former city officials and business men. nagin took cash, bribes and gifts from contractors doing business with the city.

nagin has yet to issue a response. in an unprecedented move, president obama's 2012 campaign announces a relaunch. listen to this. politico says that it is a direct rejection of the chair of the dnc. find out what they mean by that. plus, between the manti te'o hoax and lance armstrong's confession, should washington be concerned? i know you're saying, what? i'm going to talk with the national journal columnist and says the athletes give voters two more excuses not to trust politicians. we'll connect the dots. and you can join our conversation on twitter. you can find us. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight.

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as he begins -- president obama is preparing, excuse me, to use the campaign machine f m formerly known as obama for america to promote the white house's legislative agenda and a video first lady obama announced the launch of a new group called organizing for action and reached out to supporters of the president to continue their efforts. >> if we want to finish what we started and truly make that change we believe in, we can't stop now. and that's why today i'm proud that our friends and supporters are launching organizing for action. the next phase of our movement for change. >> politico's reid epstein was one of the first to report this. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, tamron. >> give us the breakdown of how this will work and the donors, there will be full disclosure of

the donors here. >> full disclosure of donors, unlimited contributions. it will be essentially like a superpac but with more disclosure than some of them had and work towards pushing the president's second term agenda by trying to influence members of congress, pushing obama supporters to call their members of congress to help push what the president wants to do. >> you also in the article anyway bring up the dnc chair and the impact or implication this has for her role, as well. >> yes. you know, it's essentially a parallel operation to the dnc but solely focused on obama's priorities. because it doesn't -- the president's priorities usually but not always dovetail with the other democrats and this will be solely focused on the president and what he wants to do and won't necessarily have to be worried about the concerns of members of congress and what they would like. >> can you give me a specific

example of where they're not aligned and what the president would want to pursue versus the dnc to pursue? >> well, the president has nominal control over the dnc but gun control is a good issue, something that the president is pushing, but a lot of democrats in the house and senate who come from conservative areas or states and not necessarily comfortable backing a comprehensive gun control legislation like the president is pushing. >> we know that four years will roll by fast. some days it doesn't seem to be the case but this organizing of this action group is also perhaps linked to the life he will lead after the white house. >> that's right. in an e-mail to supporters, the president called it a permanent commitment to his agenda which, you know, the word permanent means permanent and so whether it means the president years from now is using this to back candidates or to push positions well in to his retirement from the white house, we don't know yet but it's something to stay tuned and find out. >> lastly, the first lady's role

in this. we saw her in that ad, web ad to supporters. what will her role in this organization be if not now than later? >> certainly, at the moment, she's helping to organize, helping to draw people in to the group. what sort of formal role she will have, what sort of role she will have in raising money or raising -- attracting, recru recruiting volunteers, we don't know and waiting to find out. it will be formally unveiled sunday at a conference for obama volunteers and staff and perhaps knowing more after that. >> another unprecedented move by the president and his supporters and showing how they've been able to pull in this vast i guess arsenal, reid, of of people from all over that got him re-elected and obviously he wants to have them stay under his umbrella throughout. it's interesting. >> that's right. it's a way of continuing the come pain. you know? the president was, you know, was

far better as a campaigner than as far as energizing people than he was in office. and they're trying to continue some of that momentum in to the second term. both by building and continuing on the excitement that the campaign felt it had during the last year. >> pretty interesting. thank you very much. have a great weekend. >> thank you. you, too. up next, the latest from the white house about the ongoing hostage standoff of americans in algeria. we have new information. >> we are working around the clock to ensure the safe return of our citizens. >> we'll have the latest on the americans. plus, republican governor chris christie not holding back, blasting the nra over that controversial ad that refers to the president's daughters. >> to use that somehow, to try to make a political point, i think is reprehencible. >> more of what he said. it is just one of those things we thought you should know.

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welcome back. sources tell nbc news that a u.s. air force plane arrived in algeria and prepared to evacuate any hostages who may have been injured regardless of their nationality. meantime, reuters is reporting that around 100 hostages are now free three days after they were taken captives by militants linked to al qaeda. this is video of some of the hostages making the way to hospitals. there's no word if americans are among those out of harm's way but today defense secretary leon panetta said he's working around the clock to bring any u.s. citizens home and issued a warning. >> terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary, no refuge, not in algeria, not in north africa,

not anywhere. >> let me bring in nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. the information out of algeria is complex and quite honestly hard to follow depending on some of the information sources, but at this hour what do we know about those americans there? >> reporter: well, it is very confusing in terms of number of americans initially taken hostage but nbc news learned that at least two americans able to hide from the militants when they first took over that nat gas plant there in the far reaches of algeria and since made their escape unharmed. there's an unknown number of american hostages that remain at that compound. in a briefing at the state department a short time ago, the spokesperson said we have american hostages and the spokesperson stressed it's a very fluid situation. now, we also learned that secretary of state hillary clinton phoned her counterpart in algeria and expressed some

concern about the operations going forward. and i can tell you, even here in this building, there was some concern about the initial operation that went in to try to take out the militants in which at least -- we're told, at least four hostages wfr killed. and that secretary of state clinton stressed to the algerians gnat u.s. places a premium on security and the safety of those remaining behind. again, we are not exactly sure how many americans may still remain inside that compound and whether or not they're hostages. the second phase of the algerian operation is very complex and complicated because it's a very large facility, many buildings that have to be cleared one at a time so it's not clear exactly how many hostages remain in the hands or how many militants remain inside that complex but the operation is fluid and

ongoing, tamron. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: you bet. coming up, peter hart says if 2009 was all about hope, 2013 is about the ability to cope. we'll dig in to the new nbc news poll that shows americans are feeling or how they're feeling about the president's start to a second term and whether or not the feelings expressed in the poll are in line with what you're thinking at home. and be sure to check out the "news nation" tumblr page. ♪ if loving you is wrong

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nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. welcome back. our nbc news first read team says if 2009 was all about hope 2013 may be about the ability to cope. if it's possible, americans have grown more pessimistic about their leaders in washington and worse they think their leaders

are hurting the economy. >> that's where the public's at. they recognize these are indeed difficult times. and my point being, you've got to be able to bring the public in and it's a very polarized time. >> and as the president prepares to be sworn in for a second term, a new nbc news poll shows the economy -- the slow economy and d.c. politics are making the public less confident and pessimistic about the future of the country so here's the breakdown of the numbers. the president remains strong politically. his job approval at 52%. a higher rating than he's had through most of his first term but while the public likes the president personally, a full 74% of respondents told us they like president obama, americans are split on the policy goals. 49% disapprove of his policies, 47% approve. the president gets the best marks for being easygoing and likable, having the ability to handle a crisis and understanding average people but low marks on changing business

as usual in washington and working effectively with congress and sharing their position on the issues. now looking at the future, 43% optimistic about the next four years. 35% pessimistic and 22% feel mix. the survey has people to describe where america is headed in a short word or phrase. just a third used positive words like improving and right direction. nearly 60% used negative words, downhill, wrong track and economy declining. overall, just 35% tell us they believe the country is headed in the right direction. 57% say it's on the wrong track. that right track number down six points in a month ago, the lowest in five months. now today 72% dissatisfied with the economy. 27% satisfied. and asked specifically about their own economic prospects, 60% said the coming year will be a time to hold back and save

because of harder times ahead. 34% said it's a time of economic expansion and opportunity and there's still widespread skepticism that obama can change that trajectory. 36% said they're very or fairly confident about the president's ability to promote a strong economy. the bipartisan budget battles taken a heavy toll on the economy. 51% say watching president obama and republicans in congress negotiate on the budget makes them less confident about the economy getting better, 16% more confident. and americans continue to have a negative view on congress and the republican party. only 14% approve of the job congress is doing. that's a nearly all-time low by the way since nbc polling, 81% disapprove and the personal ratings of congressional leaders are under water. john boehner especially back, upside down by 19 points on the rating and the republican

party's negative rating, 49%, is at the all-time high for the gop during obama's presidency. just 26% see the party in a positive light. the gop lost the most ground with self described republicans. the tea party also has its lowest rating ever, positive views of the tea party, they have dropped to just 23%. joining me now while i get a glass of water after those numbers, nbc news senior political editor mark murray. listen. not to chew on again, but mark, why i like the segments is based on numbers. questions to what we assume are average voters out there and getting a glimpse of what these people both feel about their own personal situations and what some might call the shenanigans in d.c. >> the context is very important here, tamron. this is after the fiscal cliff fight we had right over the new year and also comes after the tragic shootings in newtown, connecticut.

and of course, sets up president obama's inauguration, officially comes on monday. and he will be confronting a public that's more pessimistic that doesn't have as high expectations as four years ago. this is a very different inauguration as our own co-pollster hart put it, democratic pollster, hope is replaced by the ability to cope. and so, that is a very different thing seeing when president obama's sworn in on monday. >> and different thing than we saw four years ago but really, today, interesting development with this debt ceiling negotiations. you have got, mark, the republicans at their retreat coming out now saying that they want to have a temporary extension, the white house saying essentially this is that same kick the can move that we have seen from lawmakers in washington, d.c. so when you look at the numbers and how the republicans have an all-time low, the president is higher than he's been in his first term as far as approval. how do we jive that in again

with this latest battle? we kind of see where the american people sides with likability and doesn't break the stalemates with house republicans. >> it doesn't but, tamron, i think today's development at the very short term is a significant break. president obama talking about breaking the quote/unquote fever of republicans and looking at what they have proposed is taking the battle away from the debt ceiling and moving it to having the senate duke it out over the budget process. of course, this means we will have another budget fiscal fight ahead but instead of it being over the debt ceiling, which a default would have been cataclysmic for the government or a government shutdown, this is an ability to be over the terrain of the budget process, normal give and take between the house, the senate, the white house coming in. and a probably more functional way to reduce spending and also get the fiscal house in order rather than having it attached to the debt ceiling fight.

>> thank you very much, mark. see you in d.c. for the inauguration. and have a great weekend, buddy. >> you, too. up next from manti te'o's high hopes to lance armstrong admitting he's lied to us for years, should the scandals mat tore the men and women in washington? why they say d.c. lawmakers should be concerned about those two stories. at 1:45, the aflac duck was brought in with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com.

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i thought we might be related, so i had a fiber analysis done and sure enough, we're family. but you're not even shredded. you're...crunchy?! that happens sometimes. and you help keep people full with whole grain fiber? just like you guys. [ female announcer ] they're different, but the same. new frosted mini-wheats crunch. a tasty square packed with a crunch... [ crunch! ] ...of whole grain fiber that helps keep you full. it's a big breakfast... [ crunch! ] ...in new a little biscuit. smile! ohhh bring it in! ooohhhooh! reaction today to lance armstrong's interview with oprah which he admitted he cheating in all of the seven tour de france victories. "the washington post" asks is lance armstrong the world's biggest liar and a record 28 pinnochios for quote, a record of shame only begun to confront reluctantly and under pressure. former teammates speaking out.

tyler hamilton said the confession is a big first step and wife of a former teammate says she was disappointed that lance did not use the opportunity to apologize to her and her husband. livestrong, the charity he founded released a statement minutes after the interview aired which read rer disapointed by the news that lance armstrong misled people during and after his cycling career including us. lance is no longer on the foundation's board but he is our founder and always grateful to him for creating and helping to build a foundation that's served millions struggling with cancer. in the interview last night, armstrong insisted it is not too late to tell the truth. ann thompson brings us more of what he said. >> reporter: lance armstrong was emotional but not tearful. apologetic but not contrite. in an exclusive interview on own, armstrong admitted to oprah winfrey what had long been been suspected. >> in all seven of your tour de france victories did you ever

take banned substances or blood dope? >> yes. >> reporter: he said he started doping in the mid-'90s before he had cancer. the cocktail was the blood buster epo, transfusions and testosterone all banned and denied by him for years until this interview. >> it's too late for probably most people. and that's my fault. you know, i view this situation as one big lie. that i repeated a lot of times. >> reporter: a lie that over the 90-minute program he made clear was contrary to his real attitude about doping. >> did it feel wrong? >> at the time? >> uh-huh. >> no. >> it did not even feel wrong? >> no. scary. >> did you feel bad about it?

>> no. even scarier. >> did you feel in any way that you were cheating? >> no. the scariest. >> reporter: performance-enhancing drugs, he said, were part of the sport like air in the rider's tires or water in their bottles. >> i didn't invent the culture but i didn't try to stop the culture and that's my mistake. >> reporter: while armstrong confessed to being a bully -- >> i was a bully in the sense that you just -- that i tried to control the narrative. >> reporter: -- armstrong denied forcing other riders to dope and disputed claims by teammates that he tested positive during the 2001 tour deswiss and then paid off the international cycling union. >> there was no positive test. there was no paying off of the

lab. there was no secret meeting with -- >> the uci? >> reporter: armstrong did admit he ruthlessly went after people that told the truth, suing so many people he couldn't remember. >> you're suing people and you know that they're telling the truth. what is that? >> that's -- it's a major flaw and it's a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted and to control every outcome. and it's inexcusable and that's -- when i say that there are people that will hear this and will never forgive me, i understand that. i do. >> national journal editorial director joins us now. thank you, ron, for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> absolutely. well, you have written about this and you have tied this lance armstrong confession with manti te'o. we don't know what the truth is,

quite honestly, at this point in his story because he's not come out to talk more about this girlfriend that he claimed he had that never existed but the bottom line is you're saying that this sports story should resonate with some of those lawmakers in d.c. why? >> yeah. let me connect the dots. it starts with your very own poll today, the talk of washington. your poll shows two thirds of the public think it is country's on the wrong track. that's not just a political measure. the underlying fundamental thing is that the public doesn't trust any of its institutions. we think we're let down the leaders. churches, school, police, the military. especially government. so when you have two lead earls of the sports institution at the very least covering up and te'o at the very least covered up this hoax, it just feeds that feeling that we can't trust anybody right now and if voters can't trust washington, if they

can't trust their leaders, it is hard to get anything done. >> is that something that's isolated to now? i'm a kid of the '70s. i grew up with this image of the president being a liar. richard nixon. that's all i would hear and my impressions of lawmakers in washington, greatly formed early on during those '70s regarding that. is this so unique? i mean, even looking back i covered that baseball home run derby with sammy sosa and mark maguire and kids screaming in chicago for sammy sosa and now you probably wouldn't want your kid to get that guy's autograph. >> if you look at the polling on our faith and institutions, it hit a peak in the '40s and '50s, in the early '60s and started to decline with the vietnam war and then as you say with nixon and had a feeling we have less faith in all of our institutions since the mid '60s and the '70s and

affects our whole, you know, the morale of the entire country and it's why the public right now, one of the reasons why the public is so fed up with this town. this town is the epitome of an institution that just ain't getting it done. >> so does that mean that this is just the way things i guess will be? i hate to sound defeated in this way but we know there are other athletes who are using and doping that later on will be revealed that their extraordinary feat because of some drugs and some lawmaker arrested and charged or disgraced because of an affair. that they're caught up in or another scandal. >> right. it could be, one way the look at it is pessimistically. i'll give an optimistic spin on it. we are hungry for leaders that give us the truth, speak truth to power, help us make hard choices. >> is that why a chris christie for him, a low approval with democrats, minorities, start it is straight talk express if you will, and he's so popular in his own state, nationally and with people who are not republicans.

>> it's why john mccain was popular in 2000. why chris christie has a honeymoon and why barack obama even though the approval late rate at 48%, 49% on policy, he has a high personal rating and 72% of the public like him and i think because he's not been touched by scandal, not been called out as someone to say one thing and do the other. that his whole brand, the post part son pragmatic brand is why he was elected overwhelmingly in 2008 and with all the excitement that's around the last inauguration. now, you can argue he hasn't livered up to the potential but that brand, that notion that you can trust me is what people are looking for in all of their institutions, especially this town. >> great article there. interesting insight. a lot to chew on. >> thank you. >> thank you, ron. good to see you. hope to see you again. >> take care. >> thank you. the body of a chicago man who may have been poisoned

before collecting the lottery winnings is exhumed. that looks at the top stories. the authorities say they hope another autopsy of the man will help solve the mystery surrounding the death in july. initially ruled a result of natural causes but after a relative pressed for a deeper look, he was killed and someone used cyanide. a homeless man faces assault and robbery charges after this -- this is so unbelievable. this happened in philadelphia, subway station. officials say the 36-year-old william clark on camera repeatedly punching this woman and then dragged her across the platform and threw her on to the tracks. the 23-year-old woman was able to make it out alive. officials say it was the suspect's distinctive jacket that helped them arrest him. and a team of american experts in japan to try to figure out why the batting in bio787 dreamliners caught fire

earlier this week. that's a latest in series of officials. they're concerned more about the japanese-made batteries than the ones manufactured in the u.s. the "gut check" is next. how much hope and optimism do you have about the next four years? we're going to tell you how to weigh in on the question and one of the questions of the nbc poll. plus, how much money do you think the white house is worth? this is like the "price is right" but not. one of the things we thought you should know. join us on facebook.com/newsnation to find us. i paint people from my life mostly. my ex-girlfriend... 7th grade math teacher. who is this? that's pete. my... [ dennis' voice ] allstate agent. a "starving artist" has an allstate agent? he got me... [ dennis' voice ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance

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you can join "the news nation" on the twitter page. we are @newsnation. here are some things we just thought you should know. another attack by new jersey

governor chris christie. this time, governor christie took aim at the nra over its ad referring to the president's daughters. >> to talk about the president's children or any public officer's children who have not by their own choice but by requirement to have protection and to use that somehow to try to make a political point i think is reprehencible. you see that kind of ad and you cringe. you cringe because it's just not appropriate. how much do you think the white house would be worth if it's for sale? zillow calculates the current value at $294 million, that's a 7% increase since the obamas moved in. meantime, two high profile obama supporters will miss the inauguration on monday. both oprah and george clooney will be out of the country

according to their reps. however, no shortage of celebs monday. beyonce singing "the national anthem." katy perry, steve ri wonder are just a few of the big names to be there. nbc will have coverage beginning at 5:30 a.m. with a special edition of "morning joe" and i will be live along the parade route for msnbc and nbc. those are the things we thought you should know. and time now for the "gut check." as president obama heads in to the second term, our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll found 43% of americans are optimistic about the next four years. 22% have mixed feelings. what's your gut tell you? how much hope and optimism do you have about the next four years? cast that vote and take a look at what you're saying about yesterday's "gus check." do you believe manti te'o's story he was the victim of a

cruel hoax about a dead girlfriend that never existed? 16% say you believe this kid. 84% of you not buying it. me either. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. "the cycle" is up next. i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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